Vertical Drag Racer grounded; Nomex cooler than eXpected

John Carmack wrote to the aRocket list yesterday night to say the Armadillo team drove all the way to Burns Flat, Oklahoma, to try to fly their VDR. Unfortunately, the ship didn’t get off the ground because when they were going through their actuator tests, they found they didn’t have spark.

“One of those days where hypergolics sound like a good idea…” John commented. (Luckily, they were only in Oklahoma, not stuck on the Moon.)

According to last week’s Armadillo Aerospace News, VDR probably won’t fly in Lunar Lander Challenge, but may be at X Prize Cup on display. But before that, the team really wants to fly it, at least in tethered tests, so look for them back in Burns Flat before too long.

Anyway, another equipment test went well: John said the team’s new Nomex coveralls were surprisingly comfortable in the 100-degree-plus heat at the Oklahoma Spaceport.